Characterization of Sauron is a bit off. Mordor essentially rose to power without him and industrialization happened mostly in his absence. Saruman tried to f

Characterization of Sauron is a bit off. Mordor essentially rose to power without him and industrialization happened mostly in his absence. Saruman tried to found his own nation on his own and used much of the technology developed by Mordor to do so. Sauron arose out of his ghostly form and tried to take over Mordor from the religious angle and force his dominance through the Ring. Had the Ring remained hidden I don’t doubt that Gondor would have eventually fell, Orthanc may have risen to take its place, and the Elves, dwarves, and Hobbits would simply be forced to comply with the new world order. So vast and established was the revolution at the point the story began.